We are going further to greatness every day! Enjoy the remaining artists of our TOP 100 before getting to the upper half very soon.
55. Pixies
from : Boston, MA, USA / first great sounds : 80’s / style : Lynchian screaming melodic rock/ essential albums : Surfer Rosa (1988) , Doolittle (1989)
In a long line of American bands simultaneously influenced by their elders and extremely influential on more bands to come, the arrival of Pixies at the end of the 80’s came as a shock as one was not familiar with such a mix of pop melodies held at the top of his lungs by Black Francis, counterbalanced by the groovy bass of Kim Deal and the inventive guitar sounds of Joey Santiago. Their production was quite limited (four albums) but their music sounds as fresh today as it used to. They still tour regularly and are excellent most of the time, despite the passing of time and a few pounds too many!
54. James Brown
from : Barnwell, SC, USA / first great sounds : 50’s / style : the Godfather of Soul / essential album : Live at the Apollo (1963), Startime (Boxset – 2007)
The hardest working man in show business, famous for fining his musicians when he considered they deserved it for errors made on stage, for beating his wives, for having spent many years in jail, for being quite cynical regarding money, might not have been the best person ever. But who cares when art is concerned? Man of many musical decades and many genres within Soul/Funk, leader of fantastic bands of musicians throughout his career, inventor of the “funky drummer” sound (hello The Stone Roses), most sampled man ever in the hip hop community, here is for what he should be remembered for. “Can I take it to the bridge?”
53. Shearwater
from : Austin, Texas, USA / first great sounds : 00’s / style : beautiful American rock / essential albums : Rook (2008), Animal Joy (2012) / Click for more on the blog
Not a surprise for those who regularly follow this blog as once more I do not understand why this band is not bigger than they are right now. Great melodies and powerful American music with a feel of heroic European post-punk influences, I can only recommend you any of their albums and to go see them live if you have an opportunity. Do not miss to listen to Jonathan Meiburg’s beautiful voice.
52. U2
from : Dublin, Ireland / first great sounds : 80’s / style : the creme de la creme of stadium rock / essential albums : The Unforgettable Fire (1984), The Joshua Tree (1987), Achtung Baby (1991)
A weird rank I know for such a band as either you hate them and do not want to hear about them or you are a über-fan and put them on the top of the list. I am one to get an intermediary opinion about them. I must admit being one strong hater of Bono when he mixes his position with a “war is bad, help Desmond Tutu” attitude and but once more, who cares when at the end of the day only the music counts. One really realizes how great this band is when seeing them live and hearing all these amazing anthems.
from : New York, NY, USA / first great sounds : 60’s / style : guitar rock bands godfathers / essential albums : The Velvet Underground and Nico (1967), White Light, White Heat (1968), The Velvet Underground (1969), Loaded (1970) / Click for more on the blog
THE BAND that influenced thousands of them. If you like your indie rock, you necessarily are a Velvet Underground fan. Band of two leaders at the start (Lou Reed and John Cale), supported first by their mentor Andy Warhol, they never got any popular success in their living time as the American mood was more a hippy one at that moment and people were not ready for acid words and dissonance. Their four LP’s are indispensable and are such a pleasure to discover again and again.
[…] he intended to do. Anyway, the guy is one of our modern geniuses, from the Velvet Underground (cf. rank #51) to all his solo records or projects with other musicians. I saw him in particular play on stage […]
[…] Overall an excellent show despite being a bit mechanical as always with this great band (number 55 in our TOP 100 list). […]
[…] with two covers ; one was not a real surprise (“Beginning to See the Light” by the Velvet Underground) whereas the other one was quite unexpected to say the least… : “Stairway to […]
[…] music. The other reason of my eagerness to see U2 live is that their setlist is always fantastic (our #52 band!) and that I wanted to share this with my whole family which I had succeeded in bringing for once to […]
[…] put in her first past recordings with her proper debut album. Simple and punchy songs with a soft Velvet Underground influence for the music and simple and direct words from the “now” generation. Once you […]
[…] a very good and interesting opening act by the Velvet Underground– influenced Italian artist Manuel Agnelli, Greg’s show was a good as expected. His […]
[…] the Joshua Tree National Park was only to see the beauties of this weird and atypical place. U2 made indeed the place more famous than it used to be with their 1987 LP and this is also the home […]
[…] modest) man published a record this year with Jesca Hoop. I had already seen her as opening act for Shearwater and she is a beautiful artist on her own or in all the collaborative stuff she does with others. […]
[…] that Kendrick reminds everyone here of his excellence as a MC…and that the collaboration with U2 (“XXX.”) is actually very […]
[…] bit like those great American bands such as Shearwater or The National, I must say I really discovered the greatness of Spoon’s music in 2007 only, […]
[…] everything, meaning your voice may not be credible. I tried to be as objective as possible, knowing U2 is one of my favourite bands ever. Of course, expecting them to be as powerful as during their peak years of the late 80’s / […]
[…] is concerned, Lou Reed was already one of my favourite classic artists either with his work with The Velvet Underground or through his 70’s albums. He could also be considered at the time like the main influence […]